Alex's POV

"It was nice to meet you, Tegan, Casey. See you at practice." I said as Jill gathered us around. It was the school's lunch period now, and Jill was planning on taking us to a café just off campus.

"Al, have you seen a girl with golden brown hair, about 5"6?" Tobin asked from behind me.

"Lots," I replied laughing, "Care to be a bit more specific?"

"Ummm, no. I don't know much more about her to be honest." She smiled innocently. If she thinks that a smile is going to narrow this down, she was totally wrong.

"Then it's a lost cause Tobito." I clapped her on the shoulder.

She rolled her eyes and wandered off to find Christen. Those two love birds. The fact that they still think we don't know about them is too funny.

"Alex, hi. Could you sign this please?" I'm asked on the way out to Tobin's car.

"Of course. What are your names?"

"I'm Sky, and this is Emilia, but we call her Em for short."

Um Tobin, I think I found your girl. I nudged her as I climbed into the car and rolled the window down.

"Here you go." I said, handing back the signed shirt. "Are you two going to be at the practice later?" I asked as I try to make Tobin catch onto the situation.

"Yes we are. Or at least I am." The blonde smiled.

"How about you?" I direct the question towards the brown haired one, Sky, I'm guessing.

"Yeah, but it's a trial so I'm not sure if I'll be there for more than today." She laughed nervously.

"Don't worry. Just play your game and you'll be fine." I replied, "Are you okay to play?" I asked, motioning to her cheek. There was a nasty blue-green bruise snaking from her temple to mid-way down her cheek, making her seem like she had been in a fight. Had she?

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just fell off my bike on the way home yesterday." She answered, looking uncomfortable. I'm not sure I believe her, but Tobin was clearly not catching on, and I was hungry.

However, there was one thing that I'm confused about. Only a trial? Tobin was raving about this girl at first. I guess we're going to see.

Tobin's POV

"Tobin. TOBIN!" Alex was shouting from the back seat.

I finished my conversation with Christen as she almost screamed at me.

"What Alex? What is so important?" I asked, strapping up.

"I met her Tobin, Sky. She asked me for an autograph with one of her friends."

"Really? Was she okay?" I said to Alex, starting the car as we rolled out of East Shore's Parking lot.

"Yeah, I think so. She had a pretty bad bruise on her cheek, though she brushed it off."

"Brushed it off? Using what?" I looked into my mirror, checking on Alex's expression.

"Apparently she fell off her bike yesterday." Alex shrugged.

"To be honest Tobs I don't think it is any of our business. Let's just see how good she is at soccer, then we can get to know the poor girl." Christen chimed in from beside me.

"About that..." and I told the girls what Jill had said about her turning the schools offer down.

"Tobin, hate to interrupt, but she said she was going to be at the practice. On trial, though." Alex said.

"Oh. Weird. Well I'm glad she changed her mind."

Sky's POV

AH! I just met THE Alex Morgan. This was turning into the best 72 hours of my life.

"Hey Sky." I turned around to see my best-friend and my girlfriend standing behind me, soccer bags in hand. Wait, was Casey my girlfriend? I guess that's a conversation for another day. "Ready for soccer Emilia?" they asked her, Tegan slipping her hand into Em's. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell them that I'm coming. Oops.

Wait... holding hands? "T, Em, have you got something to tell us?" Casey asked, casting a sly glance towards me.

"Yeah, I've noticed you two are slightly closer than normal." I commented, catching on as I secretly enjoyed being back with my friends again.

Their faces turned a slight shade of red. "Come on Mils, were going to the changing rooms." Tegan flounced, walking away with her new... I don't even know what to call them.

"Mils? That's new." Casey laughed, in hysterics as she turned to face me.

"I know." I giggled, "That's definitely new." 

"Okay, well I'm going to get changed for practice. See you after school?" Casey asked me. Little does she know; she's going to see me a lot sooner than that.

"See you after school."

~~

I was ready. Dressed in my old Stanford hoody, Nike shorts, old soccer socks and my tattered cleats, I was ready for the first soccer session since Ty died. I looked in the mirror, a stray tear rolling down my flushed cheeks. I was scared. Is this the right thing to do? I caused Ty's death because of soccer, because I put the sport before my family. This situation brought so many memories back. Him holding onto my shoulders, telling me, "You got this." As I stepped on the pitch for my very first game. Him making his debut in the MLS at only 17, me cheering him on from the stands. Us playing together in the garden, doing the dirtiest tackles on each other until we end up wrestling and rolling around on the floor.

"Yes." I whispered to myself. Tyler would want me to play. For him, for myself. This was all for him. I took a deep breath before I ran out towards the soccer pitches, stretching my muscles as I ran.

I knew that I was risking it all, but I was prepared. Today would be my day.

Casey's POV

We finished changing and gathered around coach as she told us what was going on. Ash and Coach Nicholls would take the goalies and defenders, Tobin and Allie the midfielders, and Alex and Christen the forwards. We finished off splitting into the groups as I saw someone running towards the pitch.

"Hi, sorry I'm late, where do I need to go?" she asked.

Sky was here. I thought she turned Coach down. She seemed stressed as she dumped her soccer bag on the side of the pitch and took a swig of water. Nevertheless, I was super happy to see her, running over with Tegan and embracing her in a tight hug. God I love that girl.

"I didn't think you would come!" I exclaimed, super excited that she would be coming back to soccer.

"Neither did I" She admitted, smiling her beautiful smile, her golden ponytail swaying as she turned her head towards our national team mentors. "Only on a trial basis though."

"Don't worry S you'll be fine." Tegan said, noticing her worried expression, "I mean THE Tobin Heath did call you talented." She laughed.

"I guess. I just wonder if coming back will really be the right thing for me."

I smiled at her, whispering, "you got this Sky. It what he would want." Tegan nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys."

"OKAY, EVERYONE GATHER AROUND." The national team called, and we split off into our respective groups, Tegan with Ashlyn, Sky with Tobin, and me with Alex.

Tobin's POV

She came. She actually came.

"Hey Sky, over here!" I called, and she ran over with a smile.

"You remember my name?" She asked, trapping the ball I threw her under her foot with ease.

"Of course, you're the little legend from the park." I must have said something right as she beamed before whispering something to her teammates.

"Okay girls. First of all, I would like to introduce myself. As some of you may know, I'm Tobin Heath, and I play for the USWNT and Arsenal back in the UK." I motioned for Allie to introduce herself.

"Oh right sorry," she laughed, "I'm Allie Long, and I also play for the USWNT and Sky Blue FC in New Jersey."

Some of the girls look at her with awed expressions, clearly fans of the midfielder.

"First of all I would like you to pair up. We will play a quick 1 v 1 drill, a possession game, and finish with shooting and a scrimmage. Is that okay?" I asked and get a mumbled reply of "yes Coach."

I watch as the girls slowly split off into pairs, cheering and chatting about the session to come. Sky stood there looking like a lost puppy way out of its depth.

"Hey double L!" I call, "come partner with me."

"Allie can you explain the drill please." I murmured as Sky sprung towards me.

"Double L?" she questioned as Allie begins explaining, raising her eyebrow.

"Well if we're gonna partner you need a nickname" I replied, smiling at her triumphantly. She laughed and shook her head as we tuned into what Allie was saying.

We took our places in line, jostling each other until the ball was released. I wasn't kidding about how good she was. As soon as it was played she was on it like lightning, taking a swift and assured tough before flicking it over to the left side of the small pitch, before shifting her weight to the right. She fake shot and rolled the ball between my legs, passing the ball into the tiny goal.

"Nice work LL"

The tone she set continued throughout practice right until the end of the possession drill, making a habit of embarrassing me by flicking it over my head or rolling it in between my legs, even managing to do all of those before scoring in my goal. I was impressed. I glanced over to Jill, who was watching us intently. She gave a small thumbs up, gesturing towards the group of girls I was working with. Somehow I thought that this practice may not just end up being a trial for the school's varsity team.

Before long we moved onto the shooting drill. Her friend Tegan took her place in goal, rolling up her hoodie's sleeves as she turned to face the attacker. Sky played it into me, I rolled it back as she faked out the defender. I watched in awe as she planted her weight to the left and managed to Panenka the ball to the right. It soared over the goalie's head before nestling comfortably in the right corner of the goal. This kid was something special.

A/N
Hey! I hope your enjoying the book. Please let me know if you have any ideas for the rest of it, and if you would like me to post the next chapters on any particular days :)